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Introduction
Twenty-five years ago, my Regiment, the Commando Logistics Regiment Royal Marines, was responsible for the Logistics of the land battle in support of both 3 Commando Brigade and 5 Infantry Brigade. It was a short conflict lasting only two and a half months from the start of the out loading in the UK on 2 April 1982 until the surrender on 14 June. However, from a logistic point of view it was the ultimate challenge: would we be able to support a reinforced Brigade 8000 miles away from home with only a sea line of communication, as there was no available airfield in the Falklands to provide an air bridge? To add to the challenge we knew that there were no roads across the Falklands, so helicopters and landing craft would have to be used as the primary means of re-supply. The other constraint was that the out-load and mobilization had to be done at great speed and because of the distance involved we had to ensure that we took everything we needed with us. Although the campaign was both a military and logistical success, we also learnt many lessons and important logistic recommendations were made. The purpose of this article is to revisit the logistical challenges of the Falklands campaign and to see what became of the recommendations made all those years ago. The question remains: 'could we do it again today' assuming, of course, that we were not fully tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan. This article will reexamine the logistic lessons of the Falklands War and compare them against our present capability. To do this, advice has been taken from current experts in the Ministry of Defence and from the Commando Logistic Regiment Royal Marines, that has just returned from Afghanistan. First we need to examine the key logistic phases of the Land operation: the mobilization, the re-stow at Ascension Island, the logistical plan and the lessons from the campaign itself.
Mobilization
At the end of April 1982, 3 Commando . Brigade had only just returned from three months winter training in Norway and were about to go on Easter leave. Much of the support shipping was still en-route back from Norway, including the echelons and the unit's combat supplies and...